There was a shepherd's son,
He kept sheep on the hill.
He laid his pipe and his crook aside
And there he slept his fill.

Once there was a shepherd lad,
Kept sheep on yonder hill.
And he laid his pipe and crook aside
And there he slept his fill.

Chorus (repeated after each verse):
And blow the winds high-o, high-o
Sing blow the winds high-o

Well he looked east and he looked west,
He took another look
And there he saw a lady gay
Was dipping in a brook.

He looked east and he looked west,
He took another look
And there he spied a lady gay,
Swimming in a brook.

Chorus (after every other verse):
Blow the winds i-o,
Blow the winds i-o,
Clear away the morning dew
And blow the winds i-o

He raised his head from his green bed
And he approached the maid,
“Put on your clothes my dear,” he said,
“And do no be afraid,

“It's fitter for a lady fair
To sew a silken seam
Than to rise up on a May morning
And swim against the stream.”

She said: “Sir, don't touch my mantle,
Come let my clothes alone.
I will give you as much bright money
As you can carry home.”

“If you'll not touch my mantle
And you'll leave my clothes alone.
Then I'll give you as much money, sir,
As you can carry home.”

“I will not touch your mantle,
I'll let your clothes alone,
But I'll take you out of the water clear
My dear to be my own.”

“I'll not touch your mantle
And I'll leave your clothes alone.
But I'll take you out of the clear water,
My dear, to be my own.”

And when she out of the water came,
He's took her in his arms.
“Put on your clothes, my dear,” he said,
And hide those lovely charms.”

He mounted her on a milk white steed,
Himself upon another,
And there they rode along the road
Like sister and like brother.

And he's put her on a milk white steed,
Himself upon another,
And it's all along the way they rode
Like sister and like brother.

And as they rode along the road
He spied some cocks of hay,
“Oh look!” he says, “there's a lovely place
For men and maids to play.”

And as they rode along the way
He spied some bails of hay,
He said, “That is a lovely place
For men and maids to play.”

And when they came to her father's house
They rang long at the ring,
And who is there but her brother
To let the young girl in.

And when they came to her father's gate
She's tirled at the pin,
And ready stood the proud porter
To let this fair maid in.

When the gates were opened
This young girl she jumped in,
“Oh, look!” she says, “you're a fool without
And I'm a maid within!

And when the gates were open
It's so nimbly she's stepped in.
She said, “You are a fool without
And I'm a maid within!

“There is a horse in my father's stable,
He stands behind the thorn,
He shakes himself above the trough
But dares not pry the corn.

“There is cock in my father's yard,
A double comb he wears,
He shakes his wings and he crows full loud
But a capon's crest he bears.

“And there is a flower in my father's garden,
It's called the marigold,
The fool that will not when he can,
He shall not when he would.”

“Oh so fare you well my modest boy,
I thank you for your care,
But had you done as you should do,
I'd never have left you there.”

Says the shepherd's son as he doffed his shoes,
“My feet they shall run bare
And if I ever meet another girl
I'll have that girl, beware.”

As I walked out one midsummer morn
All in the month of May, sir,
O there I beheld a fair pretty maid
A-making of the hay, sir.

As I walked out one midsummer's morn
All in in the month of May, sir,
O there I beheld a fair pretty maid
Making of the hay, sir.

Chorus (after each verse):
Fol de lie de lay

Chorus (after each verse):
Fol de lie de lay

I boldly stepped up to her
And asked her to lay down, sir.
The answer that she gave me:
“The dew is on the ground, sir.”

I boldly stepped up to her
Asked her to lay down, sir.
The answer that she gave to me
Was, “The dew is on the ground, sir.”

“Wait till you get to my father's house
Where you may lay me down, sir;
Where you can have my maidenhead
All on a bed of down, sir.”

“O but if you come to my father's house
You may lay in my bed, sir;
You can have my maidenhead
All on a bed of down, sir.”

O when she got to her father's hall,
That was walled in all round, sir.
She stepped in and shut the door,
And shut the young man out, sir.

But when we got to her father's house,
It was walled in all around, sir.
And she ran in and shut the gate,
Shut the young man out, sir.

“When you met with me at first
You did not meet a fool, sir;
You may take your Bible under your arm
And go a little more to school, sir.

“O when you met with me at first
You did not meet a fool, sir;
Take your Bible under your arm,
Go a little more to school, sir.

“And when you meet a pretty maid
Little below the town, sir;
You must not mind her squalling
Nor the rumpling of her gown, sir.

“And if you meet a pretty girl
A little below the town, sir;
You must not mind her squalling
Or the rumpling of your gown, sir.

“There is a cock in my father's yard,
He will not tread the hen, sir;
And I do think in my very heart
That you are one of them, sir.

“There is a cock in my father's garden
Will not tread the hen, sir;
And I do think in my very heart
That you are one of them, sir.

“There is a flower in my father's garden,
it's called a marigold, sir,
And if you will not when you may
You shall not when you will, sir.”

“There is a flower in my father's garden
Called a marigold, sir,
And if you will not when you may
You shall not when you would, sir.”